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Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi

A particularly bad political year beginning. Which is the same as saying a particularly good political beginning of the year, politics being what it is. The phenomenon pertains to this country, and equally to global politics.

A lot has to do with the end of the tenure of a party. A party that ensured great popularity, made economic changes (a model in place as GST, Demonetization), at least systems that can be structured, like the old Ambassador car, and no-one ever thought anything better was possible.

There are other cross-roads as defence related scams (under scrutiny), as paper planes fly in the Lok Sabha, (not so welcome). Except that they are not so many elsewhere, numerically are low, and many nations officially declare themselves following a religion. The essence of religion is freely used even in naming parties, and is never a cause of friction, as “Christion Democrats, Liberals” and of course there is the Communist block and martial regimes, with a religious topping. Freedom of speech granted, it’s a 120 bn population!

Where a unique and presently awkward world’s largest democracy is heading to, is spontaneous, lobbied, at times mindless intransigence. Take the example of a country that has declared itself, Catholic, Islamic, Aboriginal, or whatever. The only discussions that attract valued public debate, is that of economic policies, external affairs, expansions, immigration, even hegemony. Religion or race, is not the issue, for that has already been put into place.

It’s a misplaced and misguided imitation amongst senior politicians, intellectuals that religion has been brought to the centre-point of an altercation, though the Constitution respects all!

A Protestant Britain, fought entirely on the strength of the Labour and the Tories and to a lesser extent on the Liberals, for decades. Issues were employment, economic governance, and choice of key allies. Taxation rules may have been contested, but no one went back to argue or embrace a philosophy that was an off-shoot of a similar, but formally declared to be a different form of religious practice.

Except for the White House, the US gives ample space to the First Amendment, and despite Democratic resistance, the Second Amendment is perfectly practised in the premises, with at least a couple of inmates dragged out on a monthly basis! The Democrats and Republicans may project radical differences of political approach, but clearly no-one fights on racial or religious divides, but for what was settled during Mississippi uprisings, and King’s famous march to overcome.

I think we settled our own political ideology with this wonderful Constitution, and the philosophy of the father of the nation. Somewhere down the line someone realized and converted this division to be the biggest vote machine!

South Africa, so blatantly racial before it changed to its new three-tiered structure, of an independent judiciary, a legislature, and the President divested with executive powers as he heads the Cabinet, is at ease, and compete economically. It’s a valued member of BRICS. Though recent and with a violent past, they kept away from the scruff!

Considering the way politics is handled at home, South Africa could still be pre-occupied divisively over racial clashes. Even if there are mild skirmishes, that is above and beyond the national interests of that country, and amicably taken care by the Law.

The message is, that a nation can only go as far as its major parties show maturity in aligning to developmental issues, as that is the real concern of the people.

There have to be serious discussions between the two major parties, to come to a consensus on key national issues, concerning the common man’s safety, the comfort of living, and longer- views on development, economy, FDIs and local manufacture. It is a grave disservice to the cultural fabric of the country, when big minds settle for a primary objective of fudging up sentiments and the Law. The people are attached to one, the Constitution to the other. What can be eased out with a larger consensus (like matters of money sharing, coalitions are done so well), need not be escalated to an insurmountable hurdle.

There has been enough manhandling of the poor, the farmers, that the practice of one -up- man ship in writing-off a larger proportion of loans. Looks shabby and childish. Not to be expected of people supposedly people’s representatives. The money is neither theirs nor comes from their pockets.

Get this straight. It is the farmer’s land, his soil, his toil, and his earnings. A government’s job is only to put the system in order. Let’s see this as a preamble to this election!

Seventy years of jugglery, obsession with one-upmanship as the sole point to reach the chair of power, should be shown the door. That a ruling party and an opposition are the basic structure of democratic functioning, does not make it necessary to keep the people deprived, antagonized, and leave no options but to judge the winner on radiant but transient bubbles of hallucinations.

The basic propriety for a nation to its “selfie” as “one nation, one people” is evading us.

Politicians, and their think tanks should suggest an agenda beyond the myopic “lead us into oblivion, and continue to bear with our trespasses”

I know public sentiments, and that the power derived from that tampering is significant, but what is professed as the sixth largest economy, need not make temple entrances, utterances or otherwise of the “motherland song” written by Bankimchand, take a “U” turn, and let it blow with an orchestra. These matters are petty tricks to take charge of the national scene. Sentiments tackle sentiments as politics tackles politics. They line-up people in abeyance, but that does not give returns to the starving farmer, job to the young man so inspired by his youth for that pride in his nation, nor does any good towards building political bridges for the nation’s benefit.

This government came with ample promises. Sure, infrastructure has improved. Expressways are being rolled out, amongst others are health, rural banking. External threats are being attended to, but feelings shall remain like the boy who asked for more, much more!

Who comes next, is not the point. It is time the two major parties put a “set-rate” on the ventilators. It is their prerogative despite the one in power, that they shall not allow the nation into hypoxia, irrespective of their differences.

The bar of political, dramatic, disruptive antagonism has to be lowered.

In the obvious clash of egos and political maturity, the nation should not suffer.

Matters of politics need not be devoid of the wisdom a surging India needs!

Author

Anoop Kohli is a senior consultant neurologist at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi. His interests go far beyond his chosen profession. For him, it's just one game of life so interesting to study for all its themes and aberrations. He also dabbles in script-writing and recently got a membership of the Bombay Film Writers' Association. In this blog, Masquerader, expect from him anything from H1N1 to Heena.

Author

Anoop Kohli is a senior consultant neurologist at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi. His interests go far beyond his chosen profession. For him, it's just one game of life so interesting to study for all its themes and aberrations. He also dabbles in script-writing and recently got a membership of the Bombay Film Writers' Association. In this blog, Masquerader, expect from him anything from H1N1 to Heena.